January 2018 Update

December 2017 Update

The Community Involvement Plan (CIP) is now open for public comment through January 31, 2018.

The objectives of the community involvement plan for Site 0153, and the specific activities to address these objectives, are based largely on information obtained during public meetings held in 2016 and 2017.

IDEM wants your input! Please email your comments to Site0153@idem.IN.gov. If you have any questions, please use the email address above or call (800) 451-6027. The IDEM Project Manager for Site 0153 is Ryan Groves.

October 2017 Update

IDEM will host the next quarterly public meeting on Wednesday, November 15, starting at 6:30 PM at Christamore House located at 502 North Tremont Street, Indianapolis, IN 46222. We look forward to seeing you there!

August 2017 Update

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) hosted an information session on Thursday, August 17, 2017, from 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM at the Watkins Park Family Center located at 2360 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. in Indianapolis.

Site Description

The 0153 Ground Water Contamination Site is an area of impacted ground water in the vicinity of the Riverside and White River well fields owned and operated by Citizens Water in Indianapolis, Indiana. Even though low levels of various chemicals have been detected in "raw", untreated ground water, the finished drinking water provided by Citizens Water is safe and meets all requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act. The 0153 Ground Water Contamination Site area is generally 35th St. to the north, Holt Rd. to the west, Washington St. to the south, and Central Ave. to the east.

Background

In early 2013, IDEM received notice from Citizens Energy Group that low levels of certain chemicals were being detected in the raw ground water located within the Riverside well field. In 2014, IDEM sampled the raw ground water from all 19 production wells located in the Riverside and White River well fields and found low levels of contamination in five of those wells. The contaminants of concern detected in the raw water of these five wells are trichloroethylene, cis-1, 2-dichloroethylene, vinyl chloride and 1,1,1-trichloroethane. These contaminants are man-made chemicals associated with historic manufacturing and dry cleaning processes. IDEM has begun investigation into the sources of the contamination and will be overseeing the investigation of sources of contamination and implementing a cleanup and monitoring plan.

In June 2017, the U.S. EPA deferred the technical and enforcement oversight of Site 0153 to the IDEM State Cleanup Program via a Memorandum of Agreement.